Construction of metal cases for containing drawers, shelves, or the like



W. CHIPPERFIELD. I CONSTRUCTION OF METAL CASES FOR CONTAINING DRAWERS,SHELVES, OR THE LIKE.

APPLICATION FILED FEB- I0| I920.

Patented Dec. 20, 1921.

2 SHEETS-SHEET I- W. CHIPPERFIELD. CONSTRUCTION OF METAL CASES FORCONTAINING DRAWER-S, SHELVES, OR THE LIKE.

APPLICATION FILED FEB- I0, I920.

Patented Dec. 20, 1921.

SHEET 2.

UNITED STATES PATENT orrlcs.

WALTER CHIPPERFIELD, OF ROMFORD, ENGLAND.

CONSTRUCTION or METAL GASES roe CONTAINING nnswnns, snnnvns, on THELIKE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Dec. 20, 1921.

Application filed February 10, 1920. Serial No. 357,657.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WALTER CHIPPERFIELD, a subject of the King of GreatBritain, residing at Roneo lVorks, Romford, in the county of Essex,England, have invented. new and useful Improvements in the Constructionof Metal Cases for Containing Drawers, Shelves, or the like, (for whichI have obtained a patent in France numbered 511,628, dated September 25,1920,) of which the following is a specification.

The present invention relates to improvements in the construction ofmetal cases for containing drawers, or shelves and particularly isdirected to themanufacture of such metal cases from sheet metal.

In the manufacture of such cases it is desirable that they should have asubstantial and finished appearance so that they shall form presentableand attractive articles of furniture, and it is further desirable thatthe component parts shall be capable of being connected together in suchmanner that the means of connection are not observable and do not callfor the employment of screws and bolts, and it is also preferable thatthe component parts shall be capable of being brought together andlooked in proper relation to each other with as little use of tools aspossible. K i

The ob'ectof the present invention is to 'provide a construction ofjointing or connection by which these ends may be attained,

and the present invention will be described with reference to a type ofjointing or connection particularly applicable for connecting the fronthorizontal dividing members, and the drawer bearers to the sidewalls orthe front vertical posts, and the construction of joint according tothis invention will be readily understood by describing'the same asapplied to the parts mentioned.

In order that the invention may understood the same will be describedwith reference to the accompanying drawings in which Figure 1. is aperspective view of detached portions of a side wall, a drawer bearer,and a front horizontal dividing member constructed according to thepresent invention.

Fig. 2. 1s a perspectwe view of slmllar parts assembled.

be clearly Fig. 3. is a sectional side elevation, and Flg. l. asectional plan view of similar parts assembled, showing the method oflocking the said parts together.

Fig. 5. is a similar view to Fig. 1. of detached portions of a frontverticalpost. a drawer bearer and two front horizontal dividing members.I

Fig. 6. is a perspective view of similar parts assembled.

Fig. 7. is a perspective view showing a method of securing the rear endsof the drawer bearers to the rear wall of the. case.

Referring to Figs. 1, 2, 3 and 4, theconnect on of the forward end of ahorizontal d viding member and a drawer bearer at one side of the sameto the front edge of a side wall will be first described. In thisconstruction the front vertical edge 1 of the side wall 2, which is ofsheet metal, is bent over at right angles in plan view and again bentrearward, also at right angles, so that in appearance in front elevationit presents a flat surface 3 of a suitable width, and a channel 1 isformed which is open at the rear. The bearer 5 which is to be fixed sothat it extends through'the depth of the case in contact with theinterior surface of thejside wall 2 and which is also constructedofsheet metal, is bent so that it presents an upper flat surface 6 with'twodownwardly extending flanges 7 and 8, the outer flange 7 which is tocontact with the side wall 2 terminating, while the inner flange 8which' is to be at a distance from the side wall 2 is extendedhorizontally by bending its lower portion outwardly at 9 and againbending down-' wardly andinwardly at 10, so thata horizontal surface 11,is presented of a suilioient width to support the drawer, saidhorizontal surface 11 extending from the lower portion of the innerflange aforesaid.

The lower edge 12 of the outer. vertical flange 7 of the drawer bearer5, which. is ad j acent to the side wall 2, is also bent at right anglesinward, so that a channel 13 isformed at the base of the drawer bearer 5to receive a horizontally slidable bolt 14.

The two main vertical flanges 7 and 8 of the drawerbearer 5 are at sucha distance apart that when the outer flange 7 is in surface contact withthe interior of the side forward edge of the inner flange 8 of thebearer and is so bent at 16 that it will pass within the returned edge 1of the side wall 2 and the'lower end of the tongue '15 is forked asshown at 17. while the bolt 1 1' aforesaid is slotted as shown at 18, sothat it will pass on either side 'of the tongue 15.

V The front horizontal dividing member. 19 extending between the frontedges of the side walls is formed of-rectangular channel section havingits flanges 20 and 21 directed inward, and the ends of the upper andlower flanges 20 and 21 are each formed with a tongue 22, one tonguelocated above the other,- the tongues 22 being formed with enlargedends. surface of the returned edge 1 of the side wall 2 through. which'slots 23 the tongues 22 of the front horizontal dividing member 19 canbe passed.

In'fitting these parts together the tongues 22 at the end of-the fronthorizontal dividing member 26 are first passed throughthe slots 23 inthe returned edge- 1 of the side -wall 2 so that their enlarged endsextend into the front channel 4 of the side wall 2. The end of thedrawer bearer 5' is" then placed in position so that the exposed edge ofthe inner flange 8,fits in surface contact with the returned edge 1 ofthe side wall 2 in such a manner that the surfaces of the returnededge'l of-the side wall 2 is flush with the face of the inner flange 8of the drawer bearer 5. Y

In fittingthese partstogether the end of the drawer bearer 5 must beplaced at a higher elevation than it is eventually intended to assume inorder-thatthe forked tongue 17' of the drawer bearer 5 may extend abovethe tongues 22 of the horizontal nenr ber 19 which protrude into thechannel 4 of the side wall 2. Bythen bringing down the drawer bearer 5,the fork 17. of the tongue 15 will pass astride the necks of the tongues22 of the: front horizontal member 19,. and the drawer bearer 5 willrest with its.- horizontal carrying surface 11 flush with the upperflange20 of the front. horizontal member 19., and the tongues 22 of thelatter cannot leave theslots 23 owing to their engagementwith the forkedtongue 1'? of the drawer bearer 5.

The parts having been so placed,- the bolt 14 aforesaid is slid so. thatit s-end. enters between'th'e upper and lower flanges 20 and.21-offth'e:- front horizontalmember 19. which not only prevents thedrawer bearer'5i being liftedi out/20f.place, but also insures that theSlots 23 are formedin the amper two slots 29 are formed at properpositions in each flange 27 and 28 to receive the enlarged headed tongue30 extending from the ends of the channel section front horizontaldividing members'26.

In this case both the inner and outer flanges 31 of the drawer bearer2st have forwardly projecting. fork ended tongues 32 to enter betweenthe flanges 28 and 29 of the front post 25; one such fork tongue 32engaging the tongues30 on the other front horizontal dividing. member26, so locking the horizontal members in position. The bolt 33 carriedby the drawer bearer 2a is then slid forward and engages in the channel34- of both of the front horizontal members 26, alines the surfaces 26with the horizontal surfaces 35' of the metal drawer bearer 24, andprevents the drawer bearer 24 being lifted and the joint being accidentally thereby disengaged.

Referring now to Fig. 7, in order to se cure the rear ends of the drawerbearers the following device may be adopted: For each 100 drawer bearer,the rear wall of the case has secured to it, by spot welding or thelike, a

Ia. sliding bolt 41 in the-channel 40 of the drawer bearer is. then slidforward and passes below theright angled flange 39 of the bracket 36 andso prevents the drawer bearerfromfbeing lifted at its-rear end away fromthe bracket 36 until the bolt 41 is removed. 1

F rom: the foregoing description andiexamples' it will beunderstoodtliat'the first part, such as the return flange of a sidewall. or a. front vertical post is formed with slots throughwhich passenlarged headed tongues projecting from a second part, suchas a fronthorizontal dividing member, while; a third part, such as adrawer bearerhasa 12 forked tongue, the fork of which passes astridethe neckspof thetongues ofthe second part and locks the latter in position;- while' thethirdpart carryin the forked tongue has a bolt which is and engages 1 inthe second part and locks all the three parts together so long as thebolt is in position.

Having thus described my invention what I desire to secure by LettersPatent of the United States is as follows 1. In a metal caseconstruction, a flanged support having parallel, spaced slots in aflange thereof, a channeled member, tongues on said member and enlargedheads on said tongues, said tongues and heads being adapted to bedisposed through the slots in said support flange and extendedtherebeyond, a supplemental support, a forked tongue carried thereby andadapted to straddle the tongues of said channeled member between saidflange and the heads of the tongues, and a bolt slidably carried by saidsupplemental support adapted to engage said channeled member for lockingsaid parts in connected relation.

2. In a metal case construction, vertical side members having flangesthereon, a horizontal dividing member of channeled section, said flangeshaving spaced, parallel, horizontal slots therein, headed tongues onsaid dividing member adapted to be disposed through said slots, a drawersupport, forked tongue carried thereby and adapted to straddle thetongues of said dividing member, a bolt slidably carried on said drawersupport and adapted to be slid into the channeled portion of saiddividing mem ber for locking connection of the parts.

. 8. In a metal case construction the combination of sheet metal sidewalls bent to form parallel reverse flanges and having spaced parallelhorizontal slots in the flanges, a sheet metal rear wall comiecting saidside walls, spaced front posts comprising channeled members slotted tocorrespond with the slots in said wall members, horizontal dividingmembers for spacing said front posts and side walls, said dividingmembers comprising channeled sections provided with tongues carryingenlarged heads and adapted to be disposed through the slots in saidfront posts and side wall members, drawer supports comprising flangedmetal sections and provided with forked tongues adapted to straddle thetongues of said dividing members for connection therewith, certain ofthe flanges on said drawer supports being horizontally disposed and bentupon themselves to form guides, longitudinally slidable bolts in saidguides and adapt ed to engage the channeled portions of said dividingmembers for locking all of said parts in connected and assembledrelation.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification.

lVALTER CHIPPERFIELD.

